US Citizen with Latina Surname Held by ICE After Protesting Donald Trump Rally
Jacinta Gonzalez, one of numerous protesters who shut down an Arizona highway leading to a Donald Trump rally on Saturday, was arrested after chaining herself to a car.
While two male protesters were arrested for Class 3 misdemeanors, police took the extra step of handing Gonzalez over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. All three were questioned by ICE, but only she was detained overnight.
"As a Latina with a Latina surname, I was the only person interviewed by ICE, and they placed an immigration detainer against me," Gonzalez told ThinkProgress. "Because I asserted my civil rights, I was retailed against."
Held as Part of Protocol
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office told Arizona's ABC affiliate that Gonzalez was held for unknown reasons. Officials were about to release her before ICE stepped in.
ICE issued a statement citing procedures as reason for Gonzalez's detention.
"Under current ICE procedures, all foreign-born individuals who are booked in to the Maricopa County Jail are interviewed by ICE personnel to determine alienage and removability and whether they would be an enforcement priority for the agency," the statement read.
Maricopa County is home to over one million Latino residents. The area has seen its share of racial profiling cases, but at least one county detective believes Gonzalez's arrest fell in line with protocol.
"Everyone that enters Maricopa County Jail, whether it's for spitting on the sidewalk or for murder, you are seen by ICE," said Detective Doug Matteson. "They interview everyone - male, female, black, white - and for some reason they put her on hold. They always operate in our jail facility. It's not like she was singled out."
Protesting Trump's Rally
Gonzalez is part of Puente Hills Right Movement, a Phoenix-based grassroots organization dedicated to educating and empowering immigrant communities. She was one of dozens of protesters who temporarily stopped Trump supporters from reaching a Fountain Hills rally headlined by the Republican presidential front-runner and controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The organization posted a video taken shortly after Gonzalez's release from ICE headquarters Sunday morning. In it, Gonzalez describes the conditions experienced by detainees, and she vowed to continue fighting against a Trump presidency.
Ongoing violence at rallies prompted Twitter users to create Anti-Trump hashtags suggesting alternative events that may be safer. Hashtags like #DumpTrump and #SaferThanATrumpRally began trending on Monday, hours after Gonzalez's arrest and after a Trump supporter in Tucson reportedly sucker-punched and kicked a protester.
"We believe that [Trump] events have to be shut down because the hate, the xenophobia, the Islamophobia, the homophobia that is spewed in those events is permeating America," she said.